Is there a link between foreign policy and terrorism? British intelligence thinks so

What causes terrorism? The combination of the horrendous terrorist attack in Manchester [and now, the attacks on London Bridge] and a British general election inevitably meant that this question would dominate political and media discourses. And so it has. Particular attention has, once again, been drawn to the role of western foreign policy, including that of the UK, as a driver of extremist violence.

ELECTION 2017: Voters with learning disabilities are being excluded from this election

There are more than 1m people with learning disabilities in the UK and the number is expected to increase. These are people who face exclusion from society more than ever – particularly when it comes to voting. Not enough is done to enable their participation in the most basic democratic right available to British citizens.

Are UK pollsters headed for another embarrassing election?

ELECTION 2017: Lib Dem manifesto – who is it for exactly?

The 2015 general election left the Liberal Democrats on a precipice. The party was reduced to just eight MPs, a much shrunken local government base, and had been dethroned from its traditional position as the third party of British politics.

ELECTION 2017:Fact Check - if 30% more people under 25 vote, could the Conservatives lose the election?

An article on The Independent is being widely shared on social media suggesting that a 30% increase in turnout among 18 to 24-year-olds would make the election of a majority Conservative government on June 8 rather unlikely. It followed a tweet by Alan Firth, a linguist at Newcastle University, commenting on an article by the vice president of the National Union of Students, Shelly Asquith. When contacted by The Conversation, Firth said that the calculations made in The Independent article reflected his own.

ELECTION 2017: Labour quizzed on costing of manifesto promises

TV news coverage of the 2017 election isn’t giving you the full picture – especially about Jeremy Corbyn

Vox pops made up over one-third of all election news sources on the UK’s nightly television bulletins in the first week of the 2017 election campaign, our study has found. While politicians made up the majority of appearances, 36.4% of sources were members of the public expressing their views about the election.

“We wanted to see more competition. We wanted to see more people able to switch between energy users [sic], that, over the last three or four years has not happened. This is a market that is not working perfectly and therefore we are intervening to make markets work better.”

Theresa May supports return of fox hunting: What do you think? Have your say

ELECTION 2017: What does President Macron mean for Brexit?

The campaign for the French presidency revealed a stark fault line on Europe. The openly pro-European Emmanuel Macron called for the EU to be strengthened while the staunchly anti-EU Marine Le Pen promised a referendum on Frexit. Victory for the former therefore raises interesting questions about what his stance will be on negotiating the UK’s exit from the union.

ELECTION 2017: Can we trust the opinion polls in election 2017?

Political opinion polls have taken a bit of a battering in the past few years. There was wide agreement on the eve of the last UK general election that the outcome would be a hung parliament. Few pollsters saw Donald Trump winning the 2015 presidential election in the US. And almost everyone agreed that Brexit would not happen. So are opinion polls worth the paper they’re written on any more?

Conservatives bring back the tax bombshell

The Conservatives will bring back one of their most successful election poster campaigns as they claim Jeremy Corbyn would inflict a tax “bombshell” on families today. It will launch a new poster with the slogan “Corbyn: No Bombs for our Army, One big bombshell for your family”.